Gem Academy
by bluethunder25
Summary: 'AU' story from the episode, 'Room For Ruby.' Navy does not betray the Gems, but stays on Earth to live with Peridot and Lapis. After finding another lost Gem, the three decide to create a school for other refugee Gems and teach them all they know about the Earth and its 'strange' customs.
1. A Gem Far Away From Home

The Roaming Eye flew high above the ocean, piloted by Navy; refugee of the Rubies, along with Steven, Lapis, Peridot, and their pet, Pumpkin. Navy wished to start a new life on Earth, having grown fond of its plants, changing weather, and dirt.

"This is perfect!" Steven exclaimed. "The Crystal Gems finally have a pilot!"

Peridot was equally excited at the concept of teaching a new gem everything she knew about the Earth. She figured it was the perfect opportunity to take someone under her wing. The thought just sent chills up her spine as she looked up to her fellow barnmate, Lapis. "Things are going OK now, huh?" she asked.

Lapis had at first been skeptical of Navy's intentions, mainly due to her instant adaptability to Earth, but eventually, she decided to give her a chance. "Yeah, yeah they are," she said to Peridot.

Navy smiled, giggling with glee as she piloted the ship. "This is great! Doc hardly ever lets me fly the ship! He says I'm too naïve *pfft* the nerve!" she said.

"Yeah, my dad says the same thing with me and driving. That and he's afraid I'll get the van trashed by a corrupted gem," said Steven.

"Oh that would be terrible!" Navy said holding her hand to her mouth as Lapis walked over to her.

"Hey..." Lapis said meekly.

"Hello!" Navy said cheerfully.

"Listen, I want to...apologize again for the way I acted. It took me a long time to get used to Earth and when I saw you just accept everything so quickly, I just got angry and frustrated. But like I said, it's my problem and if you wanna live here, then you're welcome to stay with me and Peridot," said Lapis.

"Really?! Oh thank you!" Navy exclaimed.

"Well, I guess this means one more mouth to not feed. Hahahahaha...that was humor," said Peridot.

"Aahahahahaaa!" said Navy.

* * *

It was close to dawn by the time the gang had returned to the barn. Steven had to return home as it was close to dinnertime.

"What's 'dinnertime?'" asked Navy.

"It's a time when humans eat at night," said Steven.

"Oh, what's...'eat?'" asked Navy.

Steven didn't really have time to explain, so he suggested that Lapis and Peridot do so for him before he hopped onto the transpad.

So with that, the first official day of Navy as a Crystal Gem had begun.

Peridot walked over to Navy. "Well, welcome to the family," she said with a handshake.

"Hope you like it here," said Lapis.

"I will, I will! Thank you for letting me stay here!" said Navy.

Lapis and Peridot had already shown Navy the barn, the only issue was finding her a place in it to stay.

"What about the silo?" Peridot suggested.

"Hmm, that seems a little too big for her," said Lapis.

"What about the roof?" suggested Peridot. "Plenty of sunlight, lots of legroom, nice view of the stars.."

"But there's also the matter of rain," Lapis said, concluding Peridot's sentence.

Just then, Navy noticed the tent next to the barn. "Hey! What about this?" she suggested.

"What? The tent? I guess that could work," said Peridot.

"I really love the color and it looks so inviting," Navy said as she entered the tent.

"Well that settles it, Navy stays in the tent," said Lapis.

"YAY!" exclaimed Navy.

* * *

Later that night, the three, along with Pumpkin, decided to look out at the stars around the cornfield.

"So basically, humans used their nourishment compressors to disintegrate food and transfer it into their lower bodies," said Peridot.

"Amazing! You learn something new everyday," said Navy.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird," said Lapis.

"It's not weird, it's wonderful! I wanna learn everything I can about this planet!" exclaimed Navy.

"Well all you have to do is come us. The Lapis and Peridot Learning Barn is always open!" said Peridot.

Navy giggled before looking up at the stars again. "I never realized how pretty the stars look. Me and the other Rubies didn't think of such things. What with all the traveling and serving Yellow Diamond and plotting the destruction of Earth and all that," she said.

"Yeah, neither did I. Back when I had my limb enhancers, it was, 'get information here' and 'study this there' 'try to create new gems in the kindergarden.' Upon retrospect, that wasn't the most pleasant experience, I still have nightmares of what those things look like, ugggghhh!" said Peridot.

"Is that how you felt when you came here too, Lapis?" asked Navy.

"Yep. Truth is, I actually used to hate this planet. Being stuck in a mirror for centuries has that effect on you. But then Steven showed a different side to Earth and I decided I wanted to see more of it," said Lapis.

Just then, a thought came to Navy's mind. "Hey! Do you think there may be others?" she asked.

"Others?" Lapis pondered.

"You know, other gems? On Earth?" asked Navy.

"Well yeah. The kindergardens produced a lot of them; Prime and Beta," said Peridot.

"So these kindergardens produced gems?" asked Navy.

"Yep," answered Peridot.

"Can we see them!?" asked Navy.

"Sure, if you want," said Peridot.

"You've told me about those kindergardens, but I've never actually seen one. It would be interesting to know where all the Earth gems come from," said Lapis.

* * *

The next morning, Lapis, Peridot, Navy, and Pumpkin paid a visit to Steven and the Crystal Gems. Steven had informed Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl about Navy's defunct from the other Rubies. Like Lapis, Pearl was skeptical considering their previous history with the Rubies, but Garnet encouraged her to give Navy a chance.

Peridot knocked on the door and was greeted by Steven and company.

"Hey guys!" Steven exclaimed.

"Yo!" said Amethyst.

"Hey," Garnet said.

"Hello," Pearl said unenthusiastically.

"Hello new friends!" exclaimed Navy.

Pearl groaned in annoyance before Garnet elbowed her.

Once inside, Garnet help a balloon that read, 'welcome to the party,' welcoming Navy as the newest member of the Crystal Gems while Amethyst gave Navy a 'welcome noogie.' Navy didn't know what to make of it, but like everything else, she liked it. Afterwards, Steven and the gems took a seat and got to talking save for Amethyst who went to get something to eat in the fridge.

Pearl eyed Navy pessimistically and started the conversation. "So Navy...what exactly made you wanna stay on Earth?" she asked.

"Well, it's just...the other Rubies take me for granted and they never take me seriously. I don't know why. Look, does this look like the face of someone not to take seriously?" Navy said, showing her big, ladybug like eyes.

"Yes," Pearl said bluntly.

"Oh," Navy said sheepishly.

"Ahem, anyway, Steven told us you've grown quite fond of the Earth," said Garnet.

"Oh yes! Especially this thing called, 'rain.' It's like the sky is crying! How cool is that?!" exclaimed Navy.

"Yes...cool..." Pearl said with snark and a curl of her lip.

Amethyst showed up with a club sandwich and sat down with the gang. "Aw chill out, 'P,' she seems legit," she said.

Navy noticed Amethyst eating. "What is that?" she said, pointing to the sandwich.

"This? This is a sandwich," said Amethyst.

"A sand...wich..." Navy responded.

"That's what earthlings call 'food,' said Peridot.

"Amazing! Would it ok if I tried some?" asked Navy.

"Hmm, sure, why not?" Amethyst before she tore of a piece of her sandwich and threw it to Navy.

The little ruby examined the piece of food, but was confused as to how to actually eat it.

"Hey, you just open your mouth and place it inside. Easy," said Steven.

Navy followed on Steven's instructions and placed the food in her mouth.

"Then you chew. Like this," Steven said, moving his mouth in a chewing motion.

Navy did the same thing, slowly. Her cheeks were puffed up like little tiny balloons.

"And then, you swallow," Steven said, showing Navy how to do so.

On that, Navy swallowed.

Steven and the other gems waited for Navy's reaction.

"That...was...INCREDIBLE! The feeling and the sensation in my mouth! I love food!" Navy exclaimed.

"Yeah, it feels especially good goin' all the way down," said Amethyst.

"It's quite gross if you ask me," said Pearl.

Navy had never experienced something like this before. She was so blown away by this feeling that she began cartwheeling around the house until she fell backwards on the stairs, landing upside down on her head.

"Aww," Garnet said subtly.

Pearl was not amused.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Steven went over to answer. To his delight, it was Connie.

"Hey, Steven! I got your message! Is it true?! Is there a new Crystal Gem?!" Connie asked.

"Sure is," Steven said gesturing his hand over to Navy who was still upside down.

"Hi!" Navy said to Connie.

"She's a new refugee from Homeworld," said Steven.

"Woah! Cool!" exclaimed Connie. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, but my Mom was going on and on about my future. Typical mom stuff. She wants me to follow in her footsteps and be a doctor like her. Heck, when I was born instead of getting me a binky, she got me a stethoscope. She says I should enroll in Beach City Medical Academy, pfft."

Navy got to her feet and walked over to Connie. "What's an a-ca-dem-eee?" she asked.

"Oh. It's like school, except a lot fancier and with more carpets," said Connie.

"A school? What's that? It's a place you go to learn things, like what you've been learning about the Earth. Think of it like an advanced version of kindergarden with less naptime," said Steven.

Mentioning the word, 'kindergarden' reminded Navy of her, Peridot, and Lapis' other plans and she brought it to their attention.

"What's goin' on?" asked Amethyst.

"Peridot and Lapis promised to take me to the prime kindergarden! Isn't that great?!" said Navy.

"What?!" Pearl shouted in shock. "Why would you go there?!"

"I wanna see where all the Earth gems came from," said Navy.

Upon hearing this, Pearl called Steven, Connie, and the other gems, sans Navy, for a group huddle. Pearl wasn't exactly fond of the idea of a 'refugee' going into a place like the kindergarden.

"Pearl, what's wrong?" asked Steven.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to take...her..to the kindergarden?" Pearl whispered.

The gang all looked at Navy who just smiled and waved at them.

"Sure, why not?" asked Steven.

"Why not? How about the fact that there are a lot of Peridot's experiments left behind there," Pearl pointed out.

"Yeah, but most of those gems I created are useless anyway. They can't harm anyone," said Peridot.

"I don't see any harm in taking her," said Connie.

Pearl was still skeptical.

Garnet decided to give her say. "Listen, Pearl. I know you have your doubts, but we owe it to Steven to at least give her the benefit of the doubt," she said.

"I had my doubts about Navy too, but she really seems to wanna stay here," said Lapis.

"And I already made these welcome signs!" Paridot said, holding up a wooden sign that read, 'Welcome New Barnie.'

Taking Navy to the kindergarden still didn't seem like the smart choice as far as Pearl was concerned, but since everyone else seemed to be pro Navy, she figured it probably wouldn't hurt to let her go, as long as Lapis and Peridot kept a close eye on her and if she accompanied them.

Lapis and Peridot agreed to Pearl's conditions.

"HOORAY!" exclaimed Navy who suddenly appeared in the huddle.

Pearl gave one last annoyed groan.

* * *

The three along with Pumpkin and Pearl teleported to the kingdergarden. No matter how many times she came here, garnet always had an unpleasant feeling when she came here. Her lack of trust for Navy was the only thing bringing her here, so she just wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible.

"So this is the kindergarden? It's...big," said Lapis.

"Former home to hundreds if not thousands of gems," said Peridot.

The group exited the warp pad and began touring the kindergarden.

As the fog surrounded her, Navy had a strange feeling. She looked up at the canyon walls, feeling dwarfed by their height, noticing the many holes and injectors that littered them. To say she was astonished, would have been a great understatement.

"So thousands of gems were born here? Wow!" said Navy.

"They weren't born, they were created. Created to be weapons," said Pearl.

Lapis flew up one of the injectors. Pearl explained to her what it was as she observed one of the holes.

Navy amazed at this concept. Thousands of gems constructed on Earth. She couldn't help but wonder why they would stop.

"So why did they put an end to this? It seemed like it was very useful?" Navy asked.

Pearl stormed over to her. "Because it's an abomination! Hideous creations were forged in this awful place! There was one good thing that came out of here though," Pearl said.

"Who?" asked Navy.

"Amethyst," said Pearl.

"Aww," said Navy.

Pearl blushed at Navy's reaction before giving a huff and turning her back to her. "Anyway, I think we should be going," she said.

Just then, Lapis flew in from around a corner and approached the gang.

"Lapis, where have you been?" asked Steven.

"Shhh. You're not gonna believe this," Lapis whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Navy asked, whispering herself.

Lapis gestured her hand, telling them to follow her; slowly and quietly.

They stopped at the corner and peeked over. Their eyes widened with shock at what they saw.

"Could it be?" Pearl said.

It was. It was indeed. Other than Peridot and her experiments, no others had been seen, but there she was; a gem.


	2. There Might Be Others

It was true. There she stood. Observing one of the holes in the kindergarden. Green skin, green hair in a bob style with a crescent moon shape on the left, a long, green, one shoulder, one leg dress that went just above her ankles, and a green gem on her right wrist.

"An actual gem," whispered Steven.

"But what is she doing here?" wondered Pearl. "She couldn't have come from this kindergarden, could she?"

"Maybe. She might have come the Beta one," suggested Peridot.

"The Beta one?" asked Navy.

"I'll tell you about that one later," said Peridot.

"Maybe we should go talk to her," suggested Steven.

"Great idea!" exclaimed Navy.

"Maybe you should go first, Peridot. You two are practically the same," said Lapis.

"Oh, just because she's green, that automatically makes her a Peridot? Hmph, I never," Peridot said.

"Never what?" asked Lapis.

"Never...think that you could be such a clod for thinking that!" Peridot answered.

"What are you? Afraid? I'd say you're the clod. A scared clod," said Lapis.

"Well one of us needs to be the smart clod and approach this carefully. We don't know who she is or even if she's from this kindergarden or if she's even from Earth," said Pearl.

"I'm sure she's harmless," said Steven.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Pearl.

"Um...gem-tuition," Steven answered.

To say the least, the group was conflicted as to approach this unknown gem, leading to a small argument. Just then, they heard a familiar voice. They looked around the corner to see that it was Navy who had already walked up to the new gem and talked to her.

"I love the shape of this hole!" said Navy.

"It's OK, I guess," said the green gem.

Navy seemed to be making friends with her, so the others figured she at least friendly. Navy took the gem by the hand and brought her over the group.

"These are my new friends; Steven, Lapis, Peridot, Pearl, and Pumpkin" said Navy.

Pumpkin scrambled around the new gem's legs and she gave him a light pet on the head.

"Hi there, little fella. Aren't you just the cutest little thing!?" the green gem said.

"Friends, this is my NEW friend, Jade," Navy said.

"Hi, I'm...Jade," the green gem said meekly.

"Ha! Told you she wasn't a Peridot," said Peridot.

Lapis just rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I'm classified as Jade #31569111234," said Jade.

"But you can just call her Jade," said Navy.

"If that's alright with you," Jade said meekly.

"Well, Jade, it's nice to meet you," said Steven.

"But what are you doing here?" asked Pearl.

"Are you from this kindergarden?" asked Peridot.

Jade explained that she had not come from the prime kindergarden. As it turned out, she was in fact from Homeworld. She was actually one of the gems caught in the war thousands of years ago. During that time, she ended up on a warp pad and was transported to a desert on Earth. She tried to get back to it, but a massive sandstorm kept her back. By the time the storm and she had gotten back, the warp pad was destroyed and she left to wander Earth.

After what seemed like an eternity, she escaped the desert and for hundreds of years she wandered the planet observing its blue sky, it's green plants, and its animals. The more she saw, the more was intrigued. So much so that she almost didn't want to go back to Homeworld. She was more interested in seeing more of the planet.

And so she continued traveling. She had even come across Beach City a couple of times. Most notably, she was there when Jasper first landed on Earth with Peridot and Lapis. She had even been around the barn a few times, including the time when Navy and the other Rubies played Steven and the gems in the baseball game; she was hiding in a nearby tree.

"Wow! I never noticed that," Navy said.

"So I've pretty much been wandering this planet and eventually, my travels took me here," said Jade.

"Well let me be the first to officially welcome you to Earth," Peridot said, shaking Jade's hand.

"Thank you. I've never gotten an official welcome before," said Jade.

"Have you seen any other gems from Homeworld?" asked Pearl.

"Oh yes. When you've traveled as many years as I have, you tend to run into a few gems here and there," said Jade.

So it would seem that Jade in fact was not the only other gem from Homeworld on Earth. There were others. But the question on Pearl's mind was where were they hiding? And how many of them were there? She wanted to the answer to all those questions, but would've preferred to ponder them back home.

Exiting the kindergarden was on Jade's mind also. "Well I should get going. It was nice meeting you all," Jade said before she headed off.

But as she was about to leave, Navy stopped her. "Wait! Do you want to come with us?" she asked.

"With you? To your...home? I...don't know," Jade responded.

"Come on! You'll love it!" exclaimed Navy.

"Yeah! There's plenty of room in the barn!" said Steven.

"Plus, I could use another student to take under my wing," said Peridot.

The thought of staying in one place for a very long wasn't really a familiar concept to Jade. She spent so much time traveling around the Earth so many times, that she never really had a real home before. But admittedly, she did like the idea of being with other gems, so she figured there probably wasn't any harm in it.

"Well...OK, I guess...I mean if that's OK with you, I mean," said Jade.

"HOORAY!" Navy exclaimed as she hugged Jade.

"Actually, having her around might be useful," said Pearl. "With her, we could learn about the other possible gems on Earth."

Everyone turned to Lapis, waiting for her to give her opinion.

"Just as long as she doesn't sleep in my hammock," Lapis said.

"Oh no, I won't. I promise I won't. Um...what's a hammock?" Jade asked, confused.

So, with new gem in toe, the group returned to Steven's home to introduce Jade to the others.

This was the first time Jade had been in an actual house, so to say the least, she was a little stupefied and began examining the house while the others discussed her.

"So you're saying that they are actually others gems on Earth?" asked Amethyst.

"And some of them are from Homeworld?" asked Garnet.

"Yep, that's pretty much it," said Pearl.

Jade noticed the microwave and decided to take a look at it.

"I guess it makes sense. With the number of gems from both kindergardens, there would probably be some leftover. But aside from Navy, who would've thought there'd be others from Homeworld?" said Garnet.

Meanwhile, Jade was playing around with the buttons on the microwave.

"There could be thousands on them on the planet," Steven suggested.

Navy was excited by this prospect. "Thousands?! Maybe even billions! Just imagine, all those gems out there in the world; lost, confused, trying to find their place in the world," she said.

"Now hold on. That may not be the case. Not all of them may be looking for friends. Some of them might be spies," suggested Pearl.

"Now that I think about it, there were some real bummers I had to deal with back when I was at the kindergarden," Amethyst said.

As this discussion was going on, Jade turned on the microwave. Her eyes grew as she stared at the orange light inside.

"I think we should find them," said Navy.

"You mean look for the other gems?" asked Lapis.

"Yes! They could live with us on the farm! And we could teach them about Earth!" said Navy.

"Yeah! That's a great idea, Navy!" said Steven.

"It could be like...um...oh! An a-ca-demm-I," said Navy.

"You mean an, 'academy?'" asked Steve.

"Yeah! That's it!" said Navy.

"A school for gems! A gem academy! Yes! I love it!" said Steven.

"I knew you would!" exclaimed Navy.

Pearl and Garnet were skeptical of this idea. If there were in fact others gems on Earth, including ones from Homeworld, having so many in one place might prove to be chaotic, especially if some of them turned out to be spies.

"I think we need to take time and think about this," said Garnet.

"After all, we don't know what these gems may be thinking or even if they want to be on Earth," said Pearl.

"True, but Lapis didn't want to be here at first and look how she turned out," said Peridot.

Garnet and Pearl observed Lapis' deadpan face.

"Good point," Garnet said.

"And it would be awesome to for Lapis and Peridot to show what they've learned. Just like with Navy. You could even teach a class like...combat," Steven said.

Garnet thought about this suggestion and a small sly smirk came on her face.

Also, since Amethyst was one of the only gems to actually eat willingly, Steven thought she would be great at teaching a cooking class to which Amethyst responded, 'meh.'

As for Pearl, Steven could help Garnet with combat school and keep an eye on the gems so they wouldn't do anything suspicious as a sort of principal.

"Hmm, a principal. I do like the sound of that. It makes me sound very important and I do like being important," said Pearl.

Meanwhile, Jade unplugged the microwave and placed it on her head, walking around the house with it.

"So, what do you say?" said Steven.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssse?!" begged Navy.

The two gave Garnet and Pearl big ladybug sized eyes to persuade them.

"Alright. I suppose it wouldn't do that much harm," said Garnet.

"As long as the gems consult with me first," said Pearl.

"YES!" Steven and Navy exclaimed.

Navy was so elated that she cartwheeled all around the house, hitting and knocking down Jade, and bouncing on top of Garnet's head while chanting, 'We're gonna met more gems,' until Garnet caught her.

Jade approached the group with the now broken microwave. "I'm sorry. Did this belong to you?" she asked awkwardly.

It was dusk when Peridot, Lapis, Navy, Pumpkin, and Jade bid farewell to Steven and the Crystal Gems and took the warp pad to the barn.

Lapis and Peridot got her familiarized with the acoustics and whatnot and told that she could live anywhere in the barn that she chose, even in the silo. Peridot introduced the barn as their gem cave, though pointed out that Lapis hated it when she called it that, thus she decided not to call it that. Jade however liked the name. Thought it was cute. Eventually, she chose a nice place in the barn on the second floor, right above the TV.

"Us barn es su barn," said Peridot.

"What?" Jade asked confused.

"She means our barn is your barn," Lapis said.

Navy jumped to Jade's new quarters. "We really, really REALLY hope you like it here!" she said to Jade.

"So listen, we'll let you get settled in and then later on, we'll try to find us some gems!" said Peridot.

"Great!" exclaimed Navy.

Peridot and Lapis exited the barn, leaving Navy and Jade alone together.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it," said Jade.

"Don't mention it. It was the least we could do," Navy said.

Navy couldn't wait to look for the other gems. She looked forward to seeing others like herself on Earth. The thought brought her attention to Jade's previous mentions about her travels. She couldn't help but ask her what it was like for a gem like her to always be traveling.

"It's a little weird, you know. It's like, no matter how many time you go around this planet, it always feels like there's something different, like it's always...changing," said Jade.

"Yeah, that's one of the many things I love about the Earth, you never know what to expect. I can't to find the other gems and show them that," said Navy.

"Yeah...me neither," said Jade.

So with that, Navy left Jade to herself so she could prepare. For soon, they would begin the search to find new gems that would soon be apart their new gem academy.


	3. A Battle Hardened Gem

Now of course, as anyone will tell you, in order to have an academy, you need students. And students is what Peridot, Lapis, and Navy intended to find as they began to their search for the possible gems that inhabited the Earth in the Roaming Eye that night.

"So many gems, so little time," said Peridot.

"And such a big world to find them in," said Navy.

It was true. The Earth was a huge place with billions of people. If there were unknown gems hiding, finding them would not be easy. Especially considering that they were alien being from another world.

"Where do we even start looking?" asked Lapis.

"Hmmm, if I was a gem, where would I be hiding?" Peridot pondered.

Lapis looked out the window of the ship, just trying to get her thoughts together, when suddenly she saw something in the distance. It appeared to be a glowing light and something about it was familiar to her. Just then, she remembered was it was.

"Navy, take us in the direction of that light over there!" Lapis said.

"OK!" Navy said cheerfully before she turned the ship towards the light.

Following the brightness of the light, the group's travels took them to a large city.

"What is this place?" asked Peridot.

"This is Empire City. Steven and I passed through here once," said Lapis.

"A city? COOL! What that's?" asked Navy.

Lapis didn't know what a 'city' was, but she did remember something Steven had said to her once about being a lone gem in the big city and some stuff about a job at a coffee shop and a crazy roommate which she didn't understand, but remembering that statement, she realized that maybe some other gems could be there. It was at least worth a look.

"Navy, take us down!" sad Lapis.

"Roger, Captain Lapis!" said Navy, before she landed the ship.

"Hey! Who said she's the captain?!" said Peridot.

"I did, didn't you hear me?" Navy asked innocently.

Seeing a bunch of cars in a parking lot, Navy decided to land the ship at the very top of the building.

And so, as the group exited the Roaming Eye, their search for new gems began in Empire City.

"Well fellow gems, it's time to go gem hunting," said Peridot.

"Oh no! I don't want to hunt them," said Navy.

"It's just an expression," said Peridot.

"Oh...what's an expression?" asked Navy.

Peridot sighed in annoyance before.

The group walked over to the edge of the building, looking out at the city before them.

"Wow! These farms are a lot...taller then ours," said Peridot.

"Maybe there's a gem in one of them," Lapis suggested.

Navy and Peridot nodded in agreement and with that, Navy got on Lapis' back and Lapis grabbed onto Peridot and she flew the two down to street level.

The citizens stared in awe at the presence of the alien trio.

"What's up with the aliens?" one person said.

"That green one looks like a bag of chips I had today," said another person.

"The blue one's kinda hot," said another person.

Navy happily waved at the citizens, but they were still taken back by their appearance.

The three didn't have time to worry about making first impressions however and began their search in a nearby hotel.

The hotel lobby was beautifully decorated with a big fountain in the middle. Navy was playing around with a big potted plant while Lapis and Peridot talked with the guy at the front desk. They asked if the guy if he had any gems staying at the hotel and he denied it, nor did know where any kind of gem would be.

Meanwhile, Navy noticed some kids throwing coins into the fountain. She was intrigued by this, especially by the fact that they seemed to be 'making wishes.'

Lapis and Peridot approached her.

"We got nothing," said Lapis.

"The large Greg didn't have anything," said Peridot.

"My name's Tim!" said the guy at the front desk.

"The fat Tim gave us nothing," Peridot said, correcting herself.

"Thank you!" Tim said.

Navy sighed in disappointment, but might've had something that would liven up their spirits. "Check this out!" she said, pointing to the fountain.

Lapis and Peridot looked over to see the kids throwing their coins in the fountain. Based on the observation, Navy assumed that they just throwing anything into the fountain, which meant they could too, so Navy encouraged Lapis and Peridot to do the same thing.

Interested, they decided to give it a try. Navy took a plant, Lapis took Tim's nameplate, and Peridot took a guy's suitcase. They all threw their stuff into the fountain, causing it to break, which made the hotel lobby flood.

Water and guests burst out of the hotel entrance, save for Lapis, Peridot, and Navy who floated out in a bubble created by Lapis.

With their first search leading nowhere, the three continued through the city. They looked through alleyways, in apartments, and on rooftops, but found nothing.

For their next search, they decided to look in a coffee shop called, 'Low Bucks.'

"This facility bears a rather intriguing aroma," said Peridot.

"It smells wonderful!" exclaimed Navy.

Lapis looked around, but didn't see any gems, so she decided to ask the guy at the counter.

Meanwhile, Peridot noticed someone dropping a half empty cup of coffee into a trash can. After the person left, she went over to the trash can and fished out the cup. She observed the cup, looking at it and smelling it. She then called over Navy who did the same thing. Curious, Peridot decided to give it a sip. The taste was odd, though she couldn't help but take another sip. Navy wanted in, and took a sip herself. She only thought the taste was odd, but still couldn't help but take another sip. The two alternated taking sips.

"Wait, what's this sensation I feel?" asked Peridot.

"I don't know. I feel all jumpy," said Navy.

Peridot and Navy started vibrating and quite literally running up the walls of the coffee shop. They were jumping on tables, doing backflips, and somersaults. Lapis noticed this and quickly grabbed the two. She tried shaking them, but it didn't calm them down, so she tried the next best thing, she used her water wings to slap the two hard.

"Snap out of it, you two!" Lapis said.

"Lapis, you have got to try this," Peridot said, holding the coffee cup up to Lapis.

Lapis took the cup and got a whiff of it. She did not like the smell. "Ugh, no thanks," she said, smacking the cup away.

Lapis knew they had to keep searching, so they exited the coffee shop before Peridot and Navy caused any more trouble.

Taking shelter in a nearby alley, Lapis waited while Peridot and Navy cooled down from the coffee. She seemed to be at her wits end as she sat down. She and Peridot and Navy had search virtually all of the city and hadn't found a single sign of a gem. She was beginning to think that maybe wasn't any, that maybe Jade was just a coincidence. But then she observed Navy and Peridot as they danced around. She remembered when she and Peridot first became barnmates and how Peridot was so determined to win her over that she wouldn't give up until she did. Steven was also the same way, he would never give up something and this meant the world to Navy, so she knew she couldn't let her down, so she decided to push forward.

Once Peridot and Navy pulled themselves together, the three continued on their way. They hadn't managed to find a gem, though Lapis seemed to be the gem that all the other males were interested in, much to her disgust.

At this point, Peridot figured that maybe there just weren't any gems besides them in the city and that they should look somewhere else.

Just then, Navy discovered a manhole cover. Curious, she grabbed the pick hole and lifted the cover, revealing the entrance to the sewers below. "Hey guys! Over here! I found a place we haven't looked! Yay for me!" she exclaimed.

Lapis and Peridot went over to Navy and looked down the manhole.

"What do you think?" Lapis asked Peridot.

"What have we got to lose?" Peridot responded.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Navy.

And with that, the three jump down into the manhole.

* * *

The appearance of the sewers was not too flattering to the three gems.

"The water here is...dirty," said Lapis as she levitated the water.

"And the smell here is definitely not intriguing.

Even Navy couldn't find anything remotely pleasant about it. "I think for the first time, I have to give something an 'un-yay'" she said.

However, in light of it's horrendous appearance, if a gem was hiding anywhere, it probably would be down here, so the three began searching.

After looking for about an over an hour, they didn't seem to find any sign of a gem anywhere.

Lapis gave an exasperated sigh. "Ugh, nothing. Maybe we should get back to the ship and look someplace else," she suggested.

But just as hope seemed lost, the three found themselves being knocked down by something that had ran into them.

The something or 'someone' turned out to be none other than a gem. She was a short, stocky gem. She had orange skin, long light orange hair, and she wore a light orange top, dark orange skin tight pants, and black shoes. She was similar in appearance to Amethyst, except she was slightly larger and had a large, bird-like nose. And her gem with on her right palm.

After all their searching, they had done it, they had found another gem.

Navy was elated as she rushed over and hugged the newly found gem.

However, the feeling was not mutual as the gem shoved Navy off of her. "Hey! Hands off, pipsquick!" she said.

"Hey! That wasn't nice!" Peridot said, storming over to the gem.

In response, the gem made her weapon appear. It was a large hammer with spikes at the top. Seeing made Peridot quake in fear.

Lapis got Peridot and Navy out of the way before the gem hit them, leaving a big crater in the wall.

The gem continued swinging her hammer at them, while the three gems tried to reason with her.

"Calm down, we're friends!" said Peridot.

"We're not here to hurt you!" said Lapis.

"Hurt me?! HA! That's a laugh! Now hold still so I can smash you into a million pieces!" said the gem before she swung again.

"We're serious! Just let us explain!" pleaded Peridot.

The gem grasped her weapon tightly, looking at the three gems with intensity. "Who are you and what do you want?!" she said, grinding her teeth.

"I'm Navy, this is Lapis and that's Peridot. We're gems, just like you," Navy said cheerfully.

"I ain't stupid! I can see that!" shouted the gem.

"Oh! Sorry," Navy said.

"So, what are you? A Topaz? A Jasper? A Tourmaline?" asked Peridot.

"I'm a Fire Opal and don't you forget it!" the gem said aggressively.

"Well, Fire Opal, what are you doing down here?" asked Navy.

"I don't know! One minute, I was fighting in the great gem war, then a rebel gem hit me, I landed on a warp pad, then the next thing I know, I'm transported to this giant rock and now I'm stuck here!" Fire Opal said.

"You fought alongside the Jaspers?" asked Peridot.

"Yeah, what of it?" Fire Opal responded.

"Oh, nothing. Just curious," said Peridot.

"I couldn't find a working warp pad to take me back to Homeworld, but then I found my way to this place and those ugly creatures up there. I didn't know what to make of them. Then I found an entrance to these underground caverns and I've been wandering around here ever since!" said Fire Opal.

So their second gem found and they just happen to find one who once fought in the war. Lapis was skeptical due to Fire Opal's seemingly volatile demeanor and wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to have someone like her at the academy.

Peridot on the other hand thought of this as an opportunity. Having a battle tested gem to take under their wing would a great asset to them, especially if Garnet could somehow tame her.

Navy, just being the optimist she was, believed there was some good in Fire Opal and that it would be a waste not to take her.

Lapis eventually agreed.

"Say, Fire Opal. How would like to come with us?" Peridot asked,

"With you? To where?" asked Fire Opal.

"To our Gem Academy! It's a place for gems like yourself. You can learn about Earth- that's this planet, BTW- and you can meet other gems!" said Navy.

"I'm not interested. I'm better off alone," said Fire Opal.

Lapis pondered on how to convince the gem to come with them. She had an idea. "Well, we will have fighting classes," she said with a sly smirk.

This interested the tough gem. "Fighting classes?" she asked.

"You'll be able to learn how to fight and there will be sparring matches and you may get fight other gems," said Lapis before she winked at Peridot.

Peridot got the message. "Yeah! Might give that hammer of yours a workout," she said to Fire Opal.

Fire Opal did like the idea and pondered on it for a little bit.

Lapis could see that she was breaking and decided to fire one last shot. "Of course, if you're too scared..." she said.

This comment set Fire Opal off. "Excuse me! If there's one thing I'm not, it's scared! Fine! I'll go to your 'academy' and I'll smash every gem I find there!" she shouted before she hit her hammer against the wall, causing the sewers to shake..

"YAY!" exclaimed Navy.

Lapis and Peridot high fived each other.

And with that, Gem Academy had its second student. The three took Fire Opal with them to the ship and set off on their way to find more gems.

On their way, Navy had a little chat with Fire Opal.

"Hey, Fire Opal, have you tried a sandwich?" asked Navy.

"A what?" Fire Opal asked in confusion


	4. Three Hidden Treasures

Despite some doubts; Peridot, Lapis, and Navy had managed to find a hidden gem. Now, they continued searching the Earth for more.

Meanwhile, Fire Opal was tapping her fingers impatiently. "So where is this 'academy' anyway? And when are we gonna get there?!" she asked with a growl.

"We'll get there, but first, we have to find some more gems," said Peridot.

"Remember, patience is a virtue," Navy said cheerfully.

Fire Opal groaned in annoyance. "Fine, but let's just find them and get there soon, you're cheerfulness is giving me a headache," she said.

Looking out the window, Lapis noticed a large forest. She couldn't see from the leafs of the trees. In a place like, there had to be a gem hiding there. "Navy, I think found our next place. It's time to land!" she said.

"You got it!" said Navy before she landed the ship.

The animals in the forest fled as the ship landed.

Peridot and Lapis exited, telling Navy to stay on board.

Fire Opal tried to follow, by was stopped by Peridot and Lapis.

"Fire Opal, you stay in the ship with Navy," Peridot said.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Fire Opal shouted before summoning her hammer, causing Peridot to shake.

Before she could strike Peridot, Lapis levitated some water from a nearby river and used it to trap Fire Opal in a bubble.

"Hey!" Fire Opal shouted, trying to break free.

"Now stay here and behave," said Lapis.

Fire Opal growled as Lapis and Peridot went off, leaving her with Navy. Which was something she wasn't too thrilled about.

"Thank you!" Peridot said, grasping tightly onto Lapis' arm.

"Hey! While they're gone, let's pass the time by clapping!" exclaimed Navy before she started clapping, much to Fire Opal's annoyance.

Meanwhile, Lapis and Peridot started their search with Peridot still holding onto Lapis' arm.

"Um, Peridot..." Lapis said, glaring at Peridot who quickly let go of her arm.

"So where do we start?" asked Peridot.

"Hmm, we could follow the river so we don't get lost," Lapis suggested.

"Brilliant! That is why I am lucky to have you as a barnie!" Peridot exclaimed.

So with that, the two followed the river, searching the areas of the forest around it. During their search, Peridot observed the animals that they saw. She figured they would be great subjects to talk about in their classes.

Eventually, their search took them to the bottom of a waterfall where a bunch of animals were gathered. They noticed the animals were looking at the top of the waterfall and out of curiosity, looked up themselves. To their pleasure, they saw none other than a gem emerge.

She had purple skin and short, spiky, wavy hair with a white streak. She wore a purple crop top, a purple short skirt, and black skin tight shorts that went below her kneecaps.

The gem bent over, revealing her gem on her back. The gem glowed and out of it came two hook swords that were made out of gems.

Using the swords, she swung on a branch over the fall and dove into the river.

The animals applauded as the gem emerged from the water and swam over to land.

"She's quite the risk taker," Peridot said to Lapis.

As the gem shook the water off of her, she noticed Peridot and Lapis who nervously waved at her. She quickly rushed over to them.

"Oh my gosh! Real gems! Gems other than me! You're real gems and you're here! You're gems are nice, by the way. It's so nice to meet you! I can't believe I'm actually talking to you! I didn't think this was possible! I mean, I have been living here in this forest for thousands of years, so I didn't really think there would be others here, but low and behold HERE YOU ARE! But who are you?! Where did you come from?! Are there other gems with you?! Are there other gems on Earth?! How did you get here?! Listen to me, 'how did you get here?' You must've taken a ship of a warp pad. That's how I got here. Just curious ole me, decided to take a warp pad and I ended up here on Earth and I liked this place so much that I decided to stay and so I've been living here in the forest ever since. But oh my gems! Now there are other gems too! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! *breaths heavily* Hi, I'm Iolite," the gem said.

"Um, nice to meet you...I'm Lapis and this is Peridot," Lapis said.

Iolite rushed over and bear hugged both Lapis and Peridot.

"Oh my gems! This is so exciting! This is AMAZING! SPECTACULAR! BREATHTAKING! ATONISHING! FANTASTIC! STUPENDOUS! UNBELIEVABLE! Um...what's another word for it?" Iolite asked.

"Um...awesome?" Peridot said.

"AWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMEEEE!" Iolite shouted, causing Peridot and Lapis to hit a couple of trees.

Iolite introduced Peridot and Lapis to her animal friends. There was an elephant named Long Nose, a tiger named Jasper, a mandrill monkey named Rainbow Face, and a parrot named Up, because it flew up in the air.

"Well, Iolite. We've come to invite you to our gem academy," said Lapis.

"It's a place where you'll get to meet other gems and..." Peridot said before she was cut off by Iolite.

"OTHER GEMS?! You mean there's more?! Oh my gems! I'd love to come to your academy, whatever that is. A chance to see other gems like me! And if you're here, that means there must hundreds, THOUSANDS, BILLIONS, QUADRILLIONS, KAGILLIONS!" Iolite exclaimed.

"So...are you in?" Peridot asked.

"Oh, I. Am. IN!" Iolite shouted.

After bidding a tearful farewell to her animal friends, Iolite followed Lapis and Peridot to the Roaming Eye when Fire Opal was all but losing her mind from Navy's cheerful clapping and singing. Iolite on the other hand liked it.

* * *

It was dawn at the time Iolite departed with the other gems on the ship and after some flying, Lapis and Peridot's eyes caught what looked like an abandoned house standing in the middle of a grassy field and decided to take a look there. Navy landed the ship right outside the front steps of the house and Peridot and Lapis departed, once again telling Navy to look after Fire Opal and Iolite.

Fire Opal was still trapped inside Lapis' bubble as Iolite made 'small' conversation with her, much to her annoyance.

"So as I said before, this is the first time I've actually seen a fire opal. I mean I've seen jades, onyx's, pearl's, amethysts, Kunzites, sapphire's, emeralds, aquamarines, serpentines, topaz's, petalite's, the four diamonds, moonstones, agates, fluorites, ruby's, obsidians..."

Iolite kept listing gems, Lapis and Peridot walked towards the house. They didn't seem to be intimidated by its rather eerie appearance with its broken windows, rusted wood, and the two gargoyle statues that sat at the door and veranda. Lapis opened the door and the two stepped inside.

Dust covered the walls and only the light of the rising sun kept the dreary house lit.

"Maybe we should split up?" Lapis suggested.

"I don't think so. Better if we stay together. This place gives me a weird feeling," said Peridot.

Lapis agreed.

Unbeknown to the two, from another room, they were being watched by a mysterious figure in a black robe.

The two began their search in the living room. They looked around, but didn't find any sign of a gem. Just then, the figure pushed a pile of books off of a nightstand.

"What was that?" said Peridot.

"It was just these books," Lapis said, noticing the books on the floor.

Placing the books back on the nightstand, Lapis and Peridot continued their search, heading up the stairs. Just then, they heard a creak and turned to find nothing. Then there was another and another and another, and every time, there was nothing there.

"OK, now this place is giving me the creeps," Peridot said.

"Relax, Peridot. I'm...sure it's nothing," Lapis said with slight nervousness.

On the second floor, the two gems looked through the different rooms. All the while, the mysterious figured hovered above them like a ghost.

"OK, doesn't look like there are any gems anywhere, too bad, let's go," Peridot said before she rushed over to the stairs, only to be met by the figure.

Peridot screamed in terror as the figure approached her, running down the stairs to the door. Lapis joined her upon seeing the figure herself.

The black cloaked figure slowly approached the steps. Silent, deadly, mysterious, ominous. Peridot shivered with fear as the figure held up its arms. Step by step, the figure approached the stairs. Scared as she was, Lapis stood her ground with Peridot cowering behind her.

"Lapis, if this is the end, I just want you to know...you have a very dry sense of humor," said Peridot.

"I know," said Lapis.

Closer and closer, the figure came until...it tripped on its cape and fell down the stairs, landing on its butt. Getting back on its feet, the figure tripped again, knocking over a table, causing a vase to fly up in the air and onto its head which the figure ran around the house in panic until it ran into a wall, breaking the vase and falling to the floor.

The slightly unconscious figure was revealed to be a gem with grey skin, medium wavy black hair, and her black gem placed on her forehead.

Lapis and Peridot went over to pick up the gem.

"Thanks...hey wait!" the gem shouted before she tried to run away, only to run into the wall again.

Lapis sighed as she and Peridot helped up the gem again who tried again to run away, this time up the stairs and jumping onto the chandelier. However, she got her foot caught in it and ended up hanging from it. This caused her cloak to fall off, revealing her black frock dress with white polka dots and striped flats.

Seeing Lapis and Peridot, the gem covered her eyes as the two introduced themselves.

The gem tried to introduce herself, but before she could, her leg slipped out of the chandelier and her head fell through the floor. Lapis and Peridot luckily were able to pull her.

"I'm Onyx," said the gem.

Onxy explained that she was a gem created in the kindergarden. After it shut down, she didn't really have a place to go, but then she found the house and had been living there since.

"How would you like to come with us to our Gem Academy?!" asked Peridot.

"Academy? What's that?" Onyx asked in confusion.

"It's a school where you'll meet lots of other gems and learn about Earth," said Peridot.

"That's this planet, by the way," said Lapis.

Onyx jumped with joy at the thought of seeing other gems. She had spent thousands of years hiding in the house, so it would be great for her to meet other gems like herself. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. So much so, that she started jumping. However, she didn't notice the broken pieces of the vase and stepped on a piece.

"YEOW! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Onyx shouted in pain.

Onyx held her foot, hopping into the next room, grabbed a tablecloth, and ended up falling into the basement with tons of stuff falling on her.

Lapis and Peridot came into the basement and helped Onyx out of the pile.

"I'm in...ow..." Onyx said before she fainted.

* * *

For their next search, Lapis and Peridot searched through a deserted summer camp. Their first stop was the mess hall where surprisingly, they found their next gem just laying on one of the benches.

"Well that didn't take too long," Lapis and Peridot said.

The gem was rather tall with a stocky build. She had white skin, long white hair, and wore a magenta crop top, black skin tight long shorts, and magenta high-heeled boots. Her gem was placed on her forehead.

The gem slightly turned her head and noticed Lapis and Peridot, looking at them with a monotone face. "Hey..." she said subtly.

"Hey. Peridot, Lapis," Peridot said.

"Moonstone," the gem said, stretching out her arms and legs.

Moonstone admittedly was surprised to see Lapis and Peridot, though she didn't express as much. It had been thousands of years since she had seen other gems, being that she came from the Beta kindergarden.

"We're opening a gem academy with lots of other gems. Would you like to come?" asked Peridot.

"Hmm, OK, whatever..." Moonstone said after only a few seconds of thinking.

"Well that was easy," Lapis said to Peridot.

So after some searching, four new gems had been found. The group was on a roll, so they figured they couldn't stop now. There had to be more gems out there and they were determined to find them.


	5. Two For the Price of One City

So with three new gems under their belt; Lapis, Peridot, and Navy continued in their pursuit of more potential students as nighttime fell.

Navy was shocked at just how many gems had already filled the ship. "Wow! Talk about a haul! If we keep this up, there might be enough room left in the Roaming Eye! Hehehehe!" she said with a giggle.

As the three tried to decide on where to search next, the other gems, specifically Iolite, decided it was a good time to get to know one another. She noticed Moonstone relaxing in her chair, picking her ear, and decided to try her luck with her first.

"Hey! So, name's Iolite. #24379-B. What's yours?" Iolite asked.

"Moonstone," Moonstone said immediately.

"Moonstone?! Well that's an appropriate name, because moonstones are pretty and you're pretty. Then again, Iolites are pretty and I'm somewhat pretty. Though I knew another Iolite she was pretty, pretty, though not quite as pretty as that one Zircon I knew, though she did have some split ends down the middle. But on the other hand, there was a Peridot I knew who was very pretty, though not as short as our Peridot..."

"Huh?" Peridot said abruptly.

Iolite continued. "And then there was a blue topaz, oh she was very pretty. But in terms of gems being pretty, I guess it's up to the imagination since we can change our appearances. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have big feet? Just imagine how big the footprints would be! Or, or, if I had huge hands?! When I clap them together, they could make a big sonic BOOOOOOOOM! I was also thinking of a big chest, but I think that would be a little much, don't you?"

"Yeah...whatever," said Moonstone.

Not really the reaction Iolite was expecting. "So, what number are you?" she asked.

"Hmmm, don't know. Don't really pay attention to those kinda things," said Moonstone.

"Have any interesting stories about your time here on earth? Anything happy, sad, good, bad, disgusting, embarrassing, suspenseful, thrilling, heartbreaking, anything, anything, ANYTHING?!" Iolite asked

"Nope, not really," Moonstone said subtly.

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll think of something. Good talking!" Iolite said before she rushed over to Onyx who was twiddling her thumbs nervously.

Iolite gave her a big 'HELLO!' which surprised her and made her fall out of her chair before introducing herself and asking for her name.

Onyx got to her feet, hitting her head on the chair in the process. "I'm...*ouch*...Onyx," she said.

"NICE TO MEET YOU!" Iolite exclaimed, giving Onyx a big bear hug.

"Nice...to...meet you...too," Onyx said, gasping for air before Iolite let her go. "I have to say, it's nice to see a few more gems. Believe it or not, spending over a thousand years in a house all by yourself can get pretty lonely."

"Tell me about it! I mean don't get me wrong, living in the jungle is nice all and there are lots of neat animals to talk to, but they don't really talk back which I find is kinda weird, they can walk, but they can't talk. So basically, carrying on a conversation is not always the easiest thing to do. Plus sometimes, they do this weird thing where this brown stuff comes out of the end of their butts.

"Brown stuff?" asked Onyx.

"Yeah, its kinda got this squishy, mushy feeling to it. Not sure what to make of it really," said Iolite.

As Onyx pondered that, Navy landed the Roaming Eye in a nearby city, one that they hadn't searched before, known as Bayberg.

As Peridot and Lapis touched the streets of the town, they were surprised by Iolite who stuck her head outside the ship.

"Hey! Can I come?!" she asked excitedly.

"Um, it's actually better if you stay with the others," said Lapis.

"Yeah, you know what they say, three gems a crowd," said Peridot.

"OK! Have fun!" Iolite said before heading back into the ship.

* * *

So per usual, the duo searched through the city, but didn't find one trace of a gem anywhere. After about an hour of searching that took them to a stadium, they decided it was time to move on when suddenly, the sound of music was heard. It sounded as if someone was singing with a rather melodious voice. Thinking the singing might be coming from a gem Lapis grabbed onto Peridot and the two flew over the stadium to find not a gem, but a female human singing before a large crowd.

"Nope, no gem here," said Lapis.

Just then, Peridot noticed that the human was holding a microphone in her hand. "Hmm, note; singing humans use vocal enhancement devices to increase the range of their singing," she said to herself.

So with that, the two were about to leave when Lapis' eye caught a figure standing the lights at the southeastern side of the stadium.

"Hey, Peridot, check that out," Lapis said pointing to the figure.

Peridot looked in the direction of Lapis' finger and saw said figure sitting on the lights. Upon further inspection, they came to realize that it was a gem.

The gem was pink in color. She had pink hair in a ponytail with two circular spiky pigtails. She wore a pink crop top, a pink skirt, and pink boots with white stripes going down the middle. Her gem was placed on her right leg.

"Looks like we struck again!" Peridot exclaimed.

Lapis carried Peridot over to the gem who watched the singing woman unbeknown to everybody else. The gem was surprised however when Peridot and Lapis popped up in front of her. The shocked gem quickly hid behind one of the lights.

"Hey, it's OK, we won't hurt you," said Lapis.

"We're gems, just like you," said Peridot.

Upon closer observation, the new gem realized that Lapis and Peridot were right and slowly made her way towards them. But as Peridot went to say 'hi,' the gem hid back behind the lights.

"OK, um...my name is Lapis and this is Peridot," Lapis said.

"What's your name?" Peridot asked.

The gem moved her head into view. "I'm C-C-C-C-C-C-Coral! Coral! Yeah, that's who I am, Coral!" the gem said.

The two asked Coral what she was doing at the stadium.

Coral was a gem from Homeworld. She came to Earth during the war was stranded when the warp pads broke. She found her way to Bayberg one night and heard singing coming from the stadium. Since then, she had come to the stadium more than once, watching the many singing performances that had happened there. She loved singing and watching others sing too. In fact, she dreamed of singing in front of a large crowd. The only problem was, she was way too shy.

"Well why don't you come with us to our gem academy?" asked Peridot. "We can teach you how to get over your fear and before you know it, you'll be singing like an aerial song translator!"

"You th-th-th-think so?" asked Coral.

"I know so. And knowing stuff is kinda my thing," Peridot boasted.

Lapis rolled her eyes.

Other than Lapis and Peridot, Coral hadn't seen other gems for over a thousand years, so suffice to say, she was unsure as whether or not she should go with the two.

Realizing this, Lapis slowly hovered to her. "I know it may seem scary. Trust me. I felt the same way you do once. But believe me, this planet is a great place and you'll learn to love it, along with all the other gems at our academy. And we won't let anything bad happen to you," she said, extending her hand.

Coral was weary, but upon looking upon Lapis and Peridot's welcoming expressions, she felt some degree of comfort and slowly inched her hand over to Lapis' and grabbed it.

"YES!" Peridot shouted.

This caused Coral to bend down in a fetal position.

Lapis glared at Peridot in annoyance.

* * *

And so another gem had joined the fray and Lapis and Peridot set off to find another, figuring there may be more than one gem in Bayberg. They asked around, asking the people if they had seen any strange looking aliens...besides them.

One of the people mentioned seeing a yellow looking alien headed towards the Bayberg Bog, a seafood restaurant.

Lapis and Peridot didn't know what seafood was or what a restaurant was, but the person pointed them in the direction of the place and they headed on their way. The person described the place as looking like a boat. Due to her previous experience on a boat, Lapis figured it would be easy to find. And low and behold, eventually, they found it at the edge of a dock.

Just like the guy had said, the place was designed like a rusty tugboat.

"Well, this is the place, I think," sad Lapis.

Peridot studied the architecture. "Hmm; uneven base, cracked foundation, unappealing aroma...yep! If a gem is anywhere, they must be here!" she exclaimed.

As just as those words came out of Peridot's mouth, the sounds of plates breaking and tables being flipped over was heard from inside the restaurant.

Peridot and Lapis went looked through one of the windows and saw the staff chasing what looked to be a gem.

As the guy described, she was yellow in color. Short and stocky with a wide frame, bald, and wearing a black top, and black skin tight pants with two yellow stripes going down the opposite sides. Her gem was placed on her right butt cheek.

Two of the staff had the gem cornered at a wall, but she quickly pulled out her weapon, a yellow and black colored staff, and tripped both of them with it. She did the same with the other staff members, all the while showing off and doing poses.

Eventually, she took down all of the staff, jumping onto the defeated pile.

"Yeah! That'll teach you to mess with the Sphene!" the gem proclaimed.

The rest of the guests ran out of the restaurant in terror, leaving no one save for Lapis and Peridot who stood before the gem.

"Who are you?" asked the gem.

"Lapis," Lapis answered.

"Peridot," Peridot answered.

The two waited for the gem to give her name, but she just stood there silent.

"Um...hello?" Peridot asked.

Still, the gem didn't say anything.

"Excuse me?" said Lapis.

The gem still wouldn't speak.

"Why isn't she saying anything?" Peridot whispered to Lapis.

"I don't know," Lapis whispered back.

Just then, the gem spoke up. "Why is it taking you so long to say my name?" she said.

"We don't even know you're name," said Lapis.

The gem burst into laughter while Lapis and Peridot stared at her confused. The gem then saw that Lapis and Peridot weren't laughing, but continued to laugh herself whilst rolling on the floor.

"Oh! You had me going there! That was a good one! so, I'll keep waiting," the gem said.

"Still don't know your name," Lapis said in a monotone voice.

The gem suddenly realized Lapis and Peridot really didn't know who she was. "You serious? I'm like the greatest great of great, how could you not know my name?!" she said.

"Are we supposed to?" asked Peridot.

"Uh..yeah! Remember the 'greatest great of great' part? The name's Sphene. Or 'The' Sphene. Or 'Sphene The Greatest Gem That Ever Lived,' or 'Sphene The Most Magnificent Magnificent One.' Any of those will do. So what brings you here?" Sphene asked.

"We're gathering a ton of gems from all over and making a gem academy," said Peridot.

Lapis explained the purposes of the academy to Sphene and asked if she was interested.

"Well honestly, I've got nothing better to do. Plus, it would be nice to have other gems around to bask in my greatness," said Sphene.

Peridot and Lapis eyed each with slight annoyance.

Nonetheless, Sphene agreed and followed the two back to this ship.

* * *

With the two newly found gems, the Roaming Eye was starting to get crowded, so Lapis, Peridot, and Navy decided to call it a day. They could always find more, but for right, the haul they got was good enough.

They just couldn't believe this was happening. All these gems and now they were going to live together in an academy. They weren't sure what was gonna happen considering the different personalities and whatnot, but they looked forward to sharing what they knew about Earth with them.


	6. Welcome to Our Academy

The newly found gems landed in front of what would be their new home and the sight of the academy, the barn.

Iolite quickly stepped out of the ship. Her eyes widened in amazement upon seeing the barn for the first time. "Oh. My. GEMS! This is the barn you were talking about?! WOW! I can't believe it! This is the best barn I've ever seen! Well it's the only barn I've ever seen, but out of all the other barns I've never seen, this one is the best!" she exclaimed.

Onyx tried to slowly step off the ship, but was shoved off by Fire Opal who did not look impressed.

Next off was Coral. "So this is where the academy is?" she asked.

"Yep!" Navy answered. "You like it?!"

Coral slowly answered. "Well I..."

"I LOVE IT!" Iolite suddenly shouted, causing Coral to jump into Navy's arms.

Sphene came off the ship next. "It's ok, I guess. I can't really judge since I've never actually seen a barn," she said.

Moonstone was the last one off and studied the barn.

"So what do you think?" asked Navy.

"...meh..." Moonstone said.

"Well us barn es su barn!" Navy exclaimed.

The other gems looked at Navy confused.

"That means our barn is your barn," said Navy.

"Oh!" Iolite, Coral, Sphene, and Onyx said.

"Whatever," said Moonstone.

"So feel free to make yourselves at home!" Peridot said enthusiastically.

Peridot was so excited at welcoming the new gems, that she failed to noticed Jade crawling behind her and tripped over her.

"Oh! Sorry, Peridot! Are you ok!? Did I hurt you?!" Jade asked as she helped Peridot up.

Peridot assured Jade that she was fine. Breathing a sigh of relief, Jade continued with her business which consisted of her crawling on the ground. While she was doing this, she was in the possession of a magnifying glass.

"Um, what are you doing?" asked Lapis.

"Oh! Well I was looking around the barn and I found some interesting items, including this," Jade said, holding up the magnifying glass.

During their time in the barn, Lapis and Peridot did notice a lot of things lying around, but they didn't pay attention to them. Either that or they used them to make their meep morps.

"What's that?" asked Peridot.

"It appears to be some kind of glass that magnifies the sight of the vision sphere," Jade said.

She had been using the magnifying glass for a while, leading her to holding the thing up to Iolite's face, causing her to jump back.

"I'm Iolite!" Iolite said before bear hugging Jade.

"Nice...to...meet...you..." Jade said, trying to regain her breath.

"Nice to meet you to! I can't wait for us to spend time together! This is gonna be so much fun! I cannot believe all us gems are together like this! Did I mention this is gonna be fun?!" Iolite exclaimed.

Sphene introduced herself next. "Hi. Obviously, I need no introduction," she said with confident.

Like with Peridot and Lapis, she didn't say anything else, just waited for Jade to say her name.

"Really? This again?" Lapis said in an annoyed, monotone voice.

Sphene waited, but just like before, there was no response.

Not wanting the introduction to drag out, Lapis just introduced Sphene to Jade for her, much to Sphene's annoyance.

Just then, Jade noticed Coral. "Hi," she said softly to her.

This however, caused Coral to panic and hide behind Fire Opal. This didn't last long as one look at Fire Opal's intense face caused her to run into Onyx's arms. The added weight of Coral caused Onyx to lose her balance and the two ended up falling in front of Jade.

"I'm Onyx," Onyx said with Coral on her spine.

Jade giggled. She was very happy to meet all of them as she introduced herself and they all shared the sentiment. All except for Fire Opal who just stood stiffly with her arms crossed. Despite her seemingly unwelcoming demeanor, Jade approached her, looking at her with a bubbly smile.

"Hi. Who might you be?" asked Jade.

Fire Opal quickly introduced herself before turning her head away from Jade.

"Well she's a bundle of joy," Sphene said sarcastically to Moonstone.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Fire Opal shouted turning her head to Sphene.

"Um...she said it," Sphene said pointing to Moonstone, only to find her resting on the roof of the barn.

This wasn't good for Sphene as Fire Opal charged at her and nearly hit her with her hammer. Luckily, she jumped out the way at the last second. Fire Opal tried to hit her again, but she pulled out her spear and blocked her attack. Fire Opal relentlessly attacked Sphene until she sent her flying into the nearby bushes.

Sphene emerged as Fire Opal charged towards her again.

Coral shook in fear as she hid behind Iolite who gleefully cheered the fight. Moonstone just rested on the barn, not caring.

Sphene tried to hit fire Opal with her spear, but she dodged it and got her with a swift kick to the gut. With Sphene down, Fire Opal jumped in the air and went for the finishing blow, but luckily, Lapis managed to trap her in another bubble, much to her extreme irritation.

"Wow. I've been wandering this planet for so long, I forgot how hostile some gems can be," said Jade.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Onyx.

* * *

So after that little episode, Lapis, Peridot, and Navy went to Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet and Steven and introduced them to the new gems. Steven was half awake, but he didn't care. He was excited beyond all reason.

"I'm excited beyond all reason! Look at all these gems!" exclaimed Steven.

"Woah! I can't believe you guys found them," said Amethyst.

Onyx stepped towards Steven with curiosity. "Is this the 'Steven' you told us about, Navy?" she asked.

"Yep! that's him! do you like him?" asked Navy.

"Um...I don't know.." Onyx said as she began poking Steven on his belly.

"Hey, stop that! That tickles!" said Steven.

"Tickles?! Onyx stop! You're hurting him!" Coral shouted.

"I am?! AHHH!" Onyx shouted. In a panic, she ran into Coral before the two hid behind Iolite.

Jade, Pearl, and most of the other gems rushed over to Steven to check on him.

"Oh Steven! Are you OK?!" asked Jade.

"Nothing's broken, is it?" asked Amethyst.

"Guys, I'm fine. Tickling is a good thing," said Steven.

"It is?" Iolite asked.

"Yeah, it feels good," said Steven.

Curious, Iolite began tickling herself. "Ahahaha, you're right! This does feel good!" Iolite said, rolling on the floor laughing.

Amethyst tried it too and found it rather enjoyable. Onyx and Coral tried it next and they also liked it.

Peridot then tried to tickle Lapis.

"Hey...Peridot...stop it," Lapis said, trying in vain to hold back laughter.

The last one to try it was Sphene who also liked the experience.

Jade observed the tickling with intrigue, looking through her magnifying glass. The idea that humans did this to amuse themselves and others was an interesting thing to think about.

Fire Opal just stared at the other gems in annoyance. Moonstone still didn't care.

After the tickling was done, Pearl approached the new gems with caution. "Well um...welcome to Earth. My name is Pearl and I am the principal of the Gem Academy," she said, holding out her hand.

Onyx went to shake Pearl's hand, but Iolite shoved her out of the way and shook it instead.

After that, Iolite brought Coral over to Pearl. Coral gave a nervous wave to the new principal. She wasn't entirely sure what a principal was, but it sounded important to her, so she didn't want to do anything to annoy her. However, as soon as Garnet approached her, she quickly fled behind Fire Opal who gave her a rather mean look, causing her to faint.

"What's the matter with her?" Garnet asked subtly.

"A lot of things," said Fire Opal.

"The bundle of joy over there is Fire Opal, said Lapis.

"Best to stay on her good side," said Peridot.

"If she has one," said Lapis.

She and Peridot shared a laugh.

But the laugh didn't last long as Fire Opal knocked Peridot clean into the sky with her hammer.

"Oooh, nice distance," said Navy.

As Lapis flew to find where Peridot had landed, Amethyst confronted Fire Opal.

"Hey! What was that all about?!" Amethyst said.

"Next time, she should keep her mouth shut. I didn't come here to play games, I came here to fight. We can go right now if you want," said Fire Opal.

Pearl intervened. "No! As principal of the gem academy, I will not allow violence between students. How did that sound?" she asked to Steven.

"Good! You sounded very authoritative," said Steven.

"I was trembling," said Navy.

"Nobody was talking to you, Ms. Skinny!" Fire Opal said.

That comment sent Pearl into a frenzy and made her lash out at Fire Opal, but she was held back by Amethyst.

"Alright, that's enough!" said Garnet. "Look, none of us expected other gems to be here, but you're here. And this academy is a good way for us to get to know each other better, so I think we at least try to get along."

"Whatever. When you're ready to stop playing around, let me know," Fire Opal said, growling in annoyance before jumping into the nearby trees.

"Well, things definitely got more interesting," said Amethyst.


	7. The First Day of Class

Eventually, Lapis was able to find Peridot in a tree, though she had landed hard on her head and needed an icepack which Steven provided.

In any case, with the current number of students in place, Steven and the Crystal Gems, along with Greg and Connie and the other gems, with the exception of Fire Opal, began working to turn a simple barn into a gem academy.

Using her strength, Garnet took down a number of trees and crafted them into chairs and placed them in front of the barn. Meanwhile, Peridot used her drones to dig a mini trench in which Garnet placed a few logs, a wooden dummy, a steel wall, and a few tires to make a combat practice zone.

Using some more trees, the gems and Steven and the gang constructed huts on the left side of the barn that would that would serve as classrooms for the gems' classes as well as dorms. Of course, right now, they only had Amethyst's cooking classes to go off on, but there was room for more in the future.

They also added a little lounge area to the right of the barn where the gems could just sit and relax and talk with each other.

In just a couple of hours, the makeshift academy was finished. Steven, Connie, Greg, and the gems looked on with satisfaction at their completed work.

"YAY!" Navy said with glee.

"Looks pretty good," said Greg.

"I can't believe this is happening!" exclaimed Steven.

"I can only imagine what your uncle Andy would think of this," said Greg.

"He'd probably say something like, _'I never thought I'd live to see the day when my parent's barn got turned into some kind of alien hippie foster daycare.'_ " Steven said.

Steven and Greg shared a laugh.

"So what happens next?" asked Jade.

"Well I guess we start classes," said Steven.

"Yes! And I took the liberty and making a schedule for said classes to keep everything organized," said Connie, showing a class schedule.

Pearl was impressed.

The schedule layout was as follows; 8:00: Earth Studies with Peridot and Lapis; 9:00: Cooking Classes with Amethyst; 10:00 Combat Classes with Garnet; 11:00: Lounge Time; and finally, at 12:00: More Earth Studies.

"What are those numbers?" asked Onyx.

"Oh, those are the hours in which the classes will take place," said Connie.

"Here on Earth, we have things called minutes and hours. There are 24 hours in a whole day," said Steven.

"Wow! We're already learning stuff!" exclaimed Iolite.

So with that, things were all set to begin. The only problem was it was past 8:00 which meant that they would have to wait until they were able to start classes. However, being that the gems were still relatively new to the concept of hours and time, they decided to have their first classes at the next hour of 8:00 which was at 8:00pm as opposed to the intended 8:00am.

* * *

And so the first day of classes at the gem academy began with Lapis and Peridot teaching Earth Studies.

Iolite, Sphene, Onyx, Moonstone, Navy, and Jade sat in their seats while Fire Opal just loitered next to a tree with her arms crossed.

For their first class, Greg was a guest and stood before the class.

Peridot took out a stick and pointed it towards Greg as she spoke to the class.

"Now as you can see, this is a typical Earth human. Notice the usual half circular shaped of the dome as well as the massive amounts of dead cells protruding from said dome," Peridot said, pointing at Greg's hair.

Jade noticed Greg's belly and pointed at it. "Um...what is that?" she asked.

"This is what is known as a nourishment sack," Peridot answered.

"It's what humans use to store their 'food.' Unlike us Gems, humans require 'food' in order to live," said Lapis.

"And when they consume it, it is stored here," Peridot said, smacking Greg's belly with the stick.

"Oh, so that's where it goes," said Navy.

"That is so weird...AND AMAZING!" exclaimed Iolite.

"Also, unlike Gems, humans can't change their physical forms," said Lapis.

"So he just keeps that unattractive appearance?" asked Onyx.

"Hey!" said Greg.

"Now Onyx. Don't be rude. He can't help that he was born that way," said Jade.

"That's right...hey!" said Greg.

"You may have also noticed that this particular Greg is of the male variety. Whereas Gems are primarily female, humans are either male or female," said Peridot.

"Have there ever been male Gems?" Jade asked, pondering.

"Hmmm, not to my knowledge," said Peridot.

"I'm not sure either, though that's not much for me to say, having been in a mirror for so long," said Lapis.

Jade pondered again. She had existed for thousands of years and not once had she seen a male gem. Could it have been possible that maybe there had been male gems before she had come to be?

"Is it possible for there to be male Gems? I'm not trying to pry or anything, I'm just wondering," Jade asked.

Peridot and Lapis looked at each other, pondering Jade's question which was something neither of them had really been asked before.

"Well, it is possible. A gem could change themselves to a physical male form," said Peridot.

"In fact, Amethyst has done it before," said Lapis.

Jade, Onyx, Sphene, Iolite, and Coral was intrigued by this. Moonstone not so much.

"Well if I decided to turn into a male, I would be the greatest male there ever was," said Sphene.

"I don't know. It just seems weird," said Coral.

"Could you try it?" Jade asked to Peridot and Lapis.

The two teachers looked at each other again and decided, since it was for the class, why not? And the two changed themselves to a more male persuasion.

Lapis was sporting a flat cut and a mustache/goatee combo and wearing a blue suit while Peridot had a mustache and was wearing a green and brown bowler hat, green glasses, a brown suit, and carrying a cane.

Coral, Onyx, Sphene, Iolite, and Jade were amazed, while Moonstone was indifferent. Fire Opal just scoffed in disgust.

"Oh my gem, oh my gem, oh my gem, oh my gem, oh my gem, oh my gem OH MY GEM!" exclaimed Ioilite.

Navy applauded.

"I think we should cover transformations in our next class,"" said Peridot.

"Moonstone, do you have any questions?" asked Lapis.

"Yes," Moonstone said quickly.

"Um...are going to ask any?" asked Lapis.

"No," Moonstone answered.

Peridot was confused. "But you said..."

"I said I had questions, I didn't say I felt like answering them," said Moonstone.

* * *

The first class concluded and now it was off to cooking class with Amethyst and boy did she have a first recipe for the gems.

"Whussup, partnas! Ya girl, Amethyst is gonna show you gems how to make an A.M. Style Pizza!" said Amethyst.

"A.M.?" asked Sphene.

"That's 'Amethyst' for short," said Amethyst.

"Oh, clever," said Navy.

"Right! I knew that! Obviously," said Sphene.

"Right..." said Moonstone.

The gems looked closely as Amethyst kneaded up the dough, poured on the pizza sauce, and then the cheese, followed by her own variety of toppings; pepperoni, sausage, marshmallows, chocolate sauce, barbecue sauce, green beans, grape jelly, anchovies, hotdogs, and nacho chips. After that, she placed in a grill, specially made by Pearl and Peridot.

"Now, while we're waiting for that, it's time for you guys to try your hands at it!" exclaimed Amethyst before set out the ingredients.

Right out the gate, Iolite rapidly placed her toppings on her pizza. Navy did as well.

Coral on the other hand moved very slowly, putting the toppings on her pizza to be extra careful. Sphene showed off by flipping two pizzas in the air, one of which landed on top of Onyx's head and made her chocolate and barbeque sauces drip overtop of her as well.

Moonstone casually put her toppings on while Jade did the same.

"Hmm, Amethyst? Do humans put everything on a pizza?" Jade asked.

"I'm sure, but I saw some turtles do it on TV once," said Amethyst.

"Oh...what's a TV?" Jade asked.

Meanwhile, Fire Opal looked from one of the windows, growling in annoyance. "What a waste of time," she said.

After they were done, the gems put their pizzas in the other handmade ovens. After about a half an hour, their pizzas were done. They didn't know what to make of them. They looked unusual to them, though any kind of food would seem unusual to most gems.

"Nice job! They look great!" exclaimed Amethyst.

"Well yeah, because I helped them. They were nervous about making the pizzas, but assured them they'd be fine," said Sphene.

"Yeah, it was all you..." Moonstone said sarcastically.

Most of the gems weren't sure if they wanted to try their pizzas or not. Iolite on the other hand, couldn't wait and grabbed her pizza and prepared to take a bite.

"Meh, might as well," said Moonstone, before she grabbed hers.

Navy also grabbed her pizza.

Simultaneously, the three gems took a bite of their pizzas.

Iolite wasn't too fond of the taste as she spit her out and neither was Navy. As for Moonstone, she actually liked it.

Coral reluctantly tried hers. "It's...OK, I guess," she said.

Onyx was next. She didn't care for hers much either. "Maybe I added too much chocolate sauce or not enough marshmallows," she said.

The other gems were waiting for Sphene to try hers.

"Come on, Sphene. Is the 'greatest great of great' afraid?" said Moonstone.

"No...it's just that...mine is so...good, I don't wanna mess it up by eating it," said Sphene.

"That makes sense!" said Navy.

Amethyst grabbed a slice of her pizza. "Well you can't account for taste, I guess," she said before taking a bite.

* * *

Next on the agenda was combat class with Garnet. Fire Opal joined the fray as this was what she was looking forward to.

"Well, Fire Opal, nice of you to join us. So, for our first class, I thought it would be good to do some weapons training," said Garnet.

Most of the gems were excited, Fire Opal and Iolite especially, while Coral and Onyx were incredulous.

Garnet place a series of wooden dummies before the gems that would be used for practice.

First up was Iolite who brought out her hook swords. After a couple of cartwheels, she lifted the dummy up in the air with her swords and as the dummy came down, she sliced it up. The gem jumped like a schoolgirl at what she had done.

Next up was Sphene made sure to stretch before taking out her staff.

"The Sphene has got this!" she said.

Garnet brought forth another dummy. Using her staff, Sphene stabbed the dummy multiple times and then swatted it away. Sphene held her head up high with pride and a smirk on her face.

Onyx was next up and took out her weapon which was a black axe with a silver blade. She pulled back, almost losing her balance, but then regained her composure and lunged forward with the axe slicing off the dummy's head, falling on her face in the process.

Next was Navy who skipped towards the dummy and pulled out her weapon which was a tiny sword. She jumped onto the dummy and slashed away, but didn't do much damage.

"Take this and this and this!" she said.

Fire Opal just shook her head.

Next was Jade. She took a deep breath and pointed her wrist at the dummy, firing a series of green stars at it in rapid succession.

"Was that alright?" Jade asked meekly.

"Indeed," said Garnet.

Next up was Coral. She had trouble walking up to the dummy, but luckily, Iolite helped her. Unfortunately, she found herself unwilling to take out her weapon as she just stood shaking.

"Coral? Is something the matter?" asked Garnet.

"Well...I-I-it's just..." Coral said.

"Are you afraid to take out your weapon?" asked Garnet.

"Y-y-yes," said Coral.

"Then get out of the way!" Fire Opal said shoving Coral aside.

Iolite, Onyx, Navy, and Moonstone didn't take too kindly to Fire Opal's action.

"Hey! You OK?" Iolite asked to Coral.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Coral said softly.

However, Fire Opal didn't care as she made her hammer appear and proceeded to smash the dummy in one shot.

"This is ridiculous! I am a warrior! I need a real fight!" shouted Fire Opal.

"You'll get one in due time, but some gems are a bit more rusty than you and need practice. And you shouldn't go shoving your fellow students either," said Garnet.

Fire Opal just scoffed and walked away.

"Sheesh! Who shattered her gem this morning?" said Iolite.

"I don't know, but maybe it's best not to make her mad...or...madder," said Onyx.

"Yeah, I've seen more than a few gems like her on Homeworld. Better just to give her some space and not bother her," said Moonstone.

Jade walked over to Coral. "Yeah, maybe when she's in a better mood. You can try to be friends with her. If that's OK with her, I mean," she said.

Taking Jade's words into consideration, she looked at Fire Opal over in the distance who looked back at her with an intense glare which caused her to faint.

* * *

After combat class, it was lounge time. Garnet explained to the gems to that 'lounge' meant for them to just sit and talk. The only problem was, they didn't know what to talk about.

"Just talk about anything," said Garnet.

"Anything?" asked Jade.

"Anything," said Garnet.

Just then, Sphene got an idea of what to talk about and stood on the table where they were sitting.

"OK, let me tell you about the time a took down a thousand gems on Homeworld," said Sphene.

"Ooooh!" said Navy.

"Please tell us!" exclaimed Iolite.

"OK, so there I was, surrounded by a thousand gems on Homeworld..." Sphene started.

"Sounds good already!" exclaimed Navy.

"I know!" Iolite exclaimed back.

"They thought they had the numbers advantage, but I used my cunning intellect to outsmart them. First, I took down a bunch of them with a front kick, two tried to come at me from behind, but I got them with my trusty staff.." Sphene said.

Moonstone didn't care much for what she perceived to be tall tales from Sphene, though she did notice Coral next to her who was looking rather down.

"And then I said to them, 'You're no match for the Sphene!" Sphene continued.

Moonstone wasn't much for conversation, but she didn't like seeing Coral sad and decided to talk to her. "Hey, are you OK?" she asked.

"What?! Oh, um...I-I'm fine.." Coral said with hesitation.

Moonstone wasn't so sure.

"And then I tossed the remaining four up in the air, using only my feet!" Sphene continued.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Navy.

"And that's how the Sphene became the greatest fighter Homeworld has ever known," said Sphene.

Navy and Iolite applauded.

But then, Iolite wondered something. "But wait. If you are the greatest fighter Homeworld has ever known, how I never heard of you until then?! It's kinda odd how I would not know a known fighter, but then again, I was living in a forest for thousands of year, so maybe I didn't lost track of you in that time! Which come to think of it is very frustrating! I really should keep up with current Homeworld events, maybe popped in from time to time to see how things were going," she said.

"Hmm, and maybe I wasn't created yet," said Navy.

"And I was on Earth as well so..." Jade said.

"Yes, that's it! You...just weren't there to witness my greatness! Why wouldn't you know of the greatest great of great?!" Sphene said, chuckling nervously.

Just then, Sphene noticed Coral and brought her to Navy, Jade, and Iolite's attention.

"Hey, Coral. What's the matter?" asked Jade.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Coral said.

Despite her claims, Moonstone could tell something was up her. "No you're not," she said with a sigh.

"Hey, how come you didn't use your weapon?" asked Onyx.

Coral tried to give an answer, but not a sound came out of her mouth.

"Are you afraid to use your weapon?" asked Sphene.

Again, Coral could not answer.

"Do you not like your weapon? Is it too ugly?" asked Jade.

Again, no answer.

"You've never used your weapon, have you?" asked Moonstone.

This caused Coral to jump with surprise. After this, she finally spoke. "Yes, it's true. I've never really been much of a fighter. I'm too scared to. I prefer to sing, but I can't even do that, because I'm too scared to do that as well. I'm just a big fraidy-gem. Not like Fire Opal," she said, holding her head down in shame.

"Aww, don't be so down on yourself. And don't let Miss Grumpy Gem get you down either!" said Iolite.

"Yeah, it's OK to be a little scared. Or, in your case, a lot scared," said Onyx.

Iolite elbowed Onyx for her comment.

But Coral admittedly knew Onyx was right. She had always been so timid and un-confrontational. What good could someone like that be to any kind of fight, let alone a war?

"Oh, cheer up, Coral. If you did fight, you'd probably do better than me," said Navy before pulling out her sword. "All I have is this tiny little sword...but hey, what can you do?!"

The gems continued talking until it was time for the next class.


	8. Jade's Day Out

For the next couple of weeks, classes at the academy continued.

Peridot and Lapis gave as much of their knowledge as they could in terms of 'Earthology.' Thanks to them, the other gems learned many unique things about Earth; things like coffee and what it does to Earth people when they drink it, rain, the idea of sleep, and how toilets are used as resting quarters.

In cooking class, Amethyst showed the gems how to make many different bizarre recipes such as jellybean and mustard smoothies, chocolate cake covered with powdered cheese, and ice cream sundaes covered with chocolate sauce and baked beans.

In combat class, which was the only time Fire Opal was interested, the gems were really sharpening their skills, with the exception of Navy and Coral.

And the gems couldn't go one lounge period without Sphene telling tale after tale about her 'magnificent combat exploits.'

Meanwhile, when she wasn't attending classes, Navy was hard at working searching the globe for any other refuge gems.

And although Pearl still had her doubts, she remained vigilant as the academy principal.

For the time being, things seemed to be going well at the Gem Academy. The gems had a place they could call home and newer ones were almost always guaranteed to join soon after.

* * *

One afternoon, the last class of the day was reaching its end with Lapis and Peridot showing the class more unique Earth objects.

The first one was an old record player.

"Now, can anyone tell me what Earth humans use this for?" Peridot asked to the class before she used the player.

Most of the gems weren't sure, but then Jade raised her hand.

"Yes, Jade?" asked Lapis.

"It seems to be a kind of device that humans use to record melodious harmonies," said Jade.

"Correct!" exclaimed Peridot.

The next object was a bar of soap.

Jade raised her hand again. "Is it animal fat that humans rub on their dead skin cells?" Jade asked.

"Yes, that is correct," said Lapis.

Jade correctly guessed the functions of all the Earth objects that the teachers presented, leaving Peridot and Lapis very impressed.

And with that, class concluded and the gems went to their dorms.

"Remember, at the next 12:00, we'll have Greg back for our lecture on the growth of human hair on the body," said Peridot.

* * *

Later on in the day, Iolite was playing with the tractor with Peridot in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Jade had been sitting down, reading through a bunch of books, using her magnifying glass when Onyx approached her.

"Hey, Jade," Onyx said.

"Hi, Onyx," said Jade.

"You know, you've been um...po-ning...the class in Earth Studies," said Onyx.

"Po-ning?" Jade wondered.

"I heard the Connie say it. It means to exceed better than others," said Onyx.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but I have been learning a lot from these Earth books," said Jade.

Connie introduced Jade to books a few days after she came to the barn. She told her how earthlings learn many things in books and gave her a few of them to read. Soon, she got more into books and asked Connie for more. Eventually, she told her about libraries and how they held more books then she herself had.

Jade excitedly tossed her books one by one to Onyx, telling her about all the different things she had learned about Earth. The weight of the books caused Onyx to fall back, making the books fall on top of her.

Jade quickly grabbed a books for the pile that Onyx was buried under.

"You know, I've never been to one of these, 'libraries' before. If what the Connie said is true, there could be a lot of knowledge, more things about Earth for me to learn there! Maybe I should go. But I don't want to go 'AWOOL,'" Jade said.

"A-WOOL?" Onyx asked, emerging from the pile.

"Steven told me about it. It means, leaving without permission," said Jade.

"Well, why don't you ask Principal Pearl?" Onyx suggested.

"Great idea! Maybe she'll say yes. Then again, maybe she won't. I hope she does," Jade said, biting her lower lip and twiddling her fingers.

* * *

At Steven's house, Jade informed Pearl of her intentions with Steven next to her.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" shouted Pearl.

"I guess that's a no," Jade said softly.

Steven intervened. "Wait, Pearl. Why can't Jade go to the library?" he asked.

"She might draw too much attention to herself," said Pearl.

"But you and Amethyst and Garnet go out all the time. And so do Lapis and Peridot," said Steven.

"It's not that, Steven, not everyone is as accepting of gems as others. She may run into the wrong Earthling and that could cause problems for a lot of us," said Pearl.

"Then let me go with her. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't cause trouble," said Steven.

"Oh, I promise I won't...by the way, what is this...'trouble?'" Jade asked.

"It means you won't do anything bad," said Steven.

"Oh no, I won't. I promise I won't. If that's OK with you, I mean," Jade said to Pearl.

The principal was skeptical. They were already taking a big risk having so many gems in one place, but one going off could be just as big. Steven had to give Pearl his word that he would keep watch over Jade at all times and not let her out of his sight. Jade also had to promise not to wander off. Both of them gave Pearl their word and while reluctant, Pearl eventually agreed.

"Just don't be out too long," Pearl said with a sigh.

Jade and Steven gave Pearl a hug before they exited out the door.

Garnet approached Pearl. "You big softie," she said.

* * *

So with Pearl's permission, Steven and Jade headed off to the library.

"Steven, do Earthlings read in libraries all the time?" asked Jade.

"Mostly. When they do, they often read about important things like how far you could roll the world's largest ball of yarn," said Steven.

On their way, the two passed the Big Donut. Jade stopped to notice the giant donut on top of the building.

"Steven, why is that circular ship just standing there?" Jade asked, pointing at the donut.

"Huh? Oh, that's not a ship, that's a donut. This is the Big Donut," said Steven.

"Doonuuut..." Jade said before she jumped to the top of the building and climbed on top of the giant donut, observing it with her magnifying glass.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Lars were busy taking out the trash in the back when a noise caught their attention.

"Did you hear something?" Sadie asked Lars.

"Yeah, but 'what' is the question?" said Lars.

Sadie and Lars rushed to the front entrance where Steven was.

"Hey Lars, hey Sadie," said Steven.

"Steven, we heard a noise. It sounded like it was coming from the roof!" said Lars.

"And I think I know where it's coming from," said Sadie, pointing at Jade.

"Steven, who's that?!" asked Lars.

"That's Jade. She's from Homeworld," said Steven.

"Steven, I can't seem to find the buttons on this donut ship," Jade said, before she noticed Sadie and Lars.

"It's not a ship!" said Steven.

Concluding her observation, Jade jumped down from the building and approached Lars and Sadie. "Hello, I'm Jade," she said.

"Yeah, Steven told us your name," said Sadie.

"Oh right. Sorry," Jade said with a giggle.

Steven introduced Jade to his two friends. Out of curiosity, Jade began observing them with her magnifying glass. She zoomed in on Sadie's face and hair and looked inside her mouth.

"What are you doing?" asked Sadie.

"I'm analyzing you. I've never been up close with many humans before," said Jade.

Then she did the same with Lars, including caressing his back with her finger and rubbing his face with her hands, causing Lars to blush.

This made Sadie growl in annoyance as she pulled Lars away from her. "OK, I think that's enough analyzing," she said.

Steven apologized for Jade before he and she went on their way. Lars continued to blush much to Sadie's annoyance as she elbowed him on the arm.

Jade noticed this. "Steven, why is that human's face red? Is he hot?" she asked.

Steven looked back at Lars and then back to Jade. "In Sadie's eyes...yes," he said.

* * *

As the two continued, Steven was getting hungry. Luckily, the two walked by Beach Citywalk Fries which meant it was time for Steven to order his favorite food. Steven told Jade to sit on the nearby bench while he walked up to the front window and talked to Peedee.

Steven didn't even need to say anything, Peedee already had a bunch of fry bits waiting for him just in case. With his fry bits in hand, he came back to Jade who was rather curious as to what he was holding in said hand.

"Steven, what are those?" she asked.

"Fry bits," Steven answered.

Jade observed the fry bits intricately. She was just getting familiar with Earth's foods thanks to Amethyst's classes. Steven asked Jade if she wanted to try one. She obliged and took a bit from him.

"This...is...good. It's really good!" Jade exclaimed.

"Of course, it's nature's perfect food. Well that and marshmallow covered hotdogs," said Steven.

Jade took a handful of fry bits and quickly ate them, enjoying each one. Steven had to make sure there was enough left for him.

"Thanks, Steven. That was amazing. You know. I've been around this planet so many times for thousands of years and despite it all, I still find myself discovering new things. It's not like Homeworld. Nothing really changes there. Sure, there are new gems that come by, but other than that, not much else. I wanna learn as much as I can about this planet, whether it be at the academy or this 'library' of yours,'" Jade said.

"Well Earth has many hidden gems, no pun intended," said Steven.

"What's a pun?" asked Jade.

"I'll tell you later. In the meantime, we should get moving," Steven said before he and Jade moved on.

* * *

Steven and Jade were almost at the library when Steven spotted someone up ahead. It was none other than Jamie, the mailman.

"Hi, Jamie!" Steven said with a wave.

"Hey Steven," Jamie said as walked by.

Steven introduced Jamie to Jade who gave him a subtle wave. Jamie gave one back before walking off, for he had a lot of mail to deliver.

"Steven, what is a 'mailman?'" asked Jade.

"A mailman is someone who delivers mail which is what he's carrying in his bag," said Steven.

Jade was intrigued by this.

Steven prepared to head off with Jade in toe, but when he turned around, he discovered Jade wasn't with him. This caused him to panic. He had to find Jade and fast so as not to break his promise to Pearl.

As it turned out, Jade had followed Jamie on his delivery route. As he was delivering some mail, Jade looked into his bag. She took out a few envelopes and analyzed them thoroughly, even licking some of them.

Jamie turned around, noticing Jade's antics, and quickly snatched the envelops away from her. "Hey! I gotta deliver those, you know," he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've just never seen a mailman before," Jade said before she pulled out her magnifying glass.

The gem observed him widely, from his face to his hat to his outfit, even going as far as to look inside his pants, much to Jamie's discomfort.

"Hey! Hey! Personal space much?!" he said.

"Well I personally came from space if that's what you mean," said Jade.

"OK..." Jamie said in response.

Jade had many other questions for Beach City's resident mailman. Why did he deliver mail? Why did he wear his uniform? Too many questions for Jamie to answer and that he didn't have time for.

Fortunately, Steven had found Jade and came over to pick her up.

"Jade! There you are! You shouldn't go running off like that!" said Steven.

After apologizing to Jamie, Steven took Jade and the two headed off, much to Jamie's confusion.

* * *

Steven and Jade finally arrived at the Beach City Library. Before they went in, Jade had some words for Steven. She found Jamie very interesting and wanted to learn more about him. Steven told her of Jamie's other talents such as putting on plays. Jade didn't know what a play was, but she was sure she would find out from a book in the library.

So with that, the two went inside and immediately, Jade was amazed. She had never seen so many books before and not just that, they had books on things she was dying to learn about. Her eyes widened with sparkles in them at what she had seen.

For the few hours, she skimmed through as many books as she could, each one providing something new for her every time. By closing time, she must've read over 100 books.

Before they left, Steven told her about library cards and how she cold use them to check out books. In no time at all, Jade had gotten her own card and checked at least ten books.

"Steven, this was fun," Jade said as she and Steven exited the library. "I can't wait to come back!"

"Glad you liked it," said Steven.

So with that, and Jade having found her new favorite place in Beach City, it was time to head back to the academy.

* * *

At Steven's home, Jade told Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet about her adventure. After bidding Steven a goodnight, she, along with Amethyst and Garnet, walked to the warp pad and warped back to the academy for it was couple of hours before the next set of classes started. There, they were greeted by the other gems.

Iolite was the first to speak. "Gems! Something terrible has happened!" she exclaimed. "Something bad! Something awful! Something terrible! Did I already say that? Yes I did! Something disastrous! Something-hey where'd you get all those books?"

"Oh, I got them from the library," said Jade.

"The library! THE LIBRARY! OF COURSE! WHAT'S A LIBRARY?!" Iolite asked.

Before Jade could tell her and the others about it, she was cut off by Garnet. "There's no time for that now. Iolite, what terrible thing has happened?" she asked.

"Fire Opal is missing," Iolite said nonchalantly.

Garnet and Amethyst gasped before looking at each other with concern.


End file.
